Dan Hulbert THEATER CRITIC, THEATER REVIEW: "The King and I": Through 
Sunday. $16.50-$34.50. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E.: 404-817-8700 
The verdict: The charm of Hayley Mills outglows even the gold-slathered 
palace sets.., 11-05-1997, pp F05, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.


Lucky thing that "The King and I" is a red-and-gold feast for the eyes, 
because there are a few occasions when it slightly disappoints the ears. 


Or to put it another way: lucky thing that Hayley Mills acts the role of 
Anna with such consummate verve, humor and charm, because she sure 
didn't get the role for her singing voice. 


The bottom line is that the touring production at the Fox Theatre, 
presented by Theater of the Stars, is impressive and well worth seeing. 
A mostly traditional, but eminently classy, rendition of Rodgers and 
Hammerstein, it doesn't break the mold (like the Royal National Theatre' 
s visionary "Carousel" a few years ago), but neither does it contain any 
whiff of mustiness. It's a good, solid family show. 


The question after Yul Brynner's death in the 1980s was: How can anybody 
match him as the King of Siam? The answer is that no one has to. Richard 
Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote "King" ---adapting it from a 
novel based on the the memoirs of Anna Leonowen, English governess to 
the King's children in the 1860s ---as a vehicle for Gertrude Lawrence. 
No one knew that Brynner would break out into stardom. 


This Christopher Renshaw production, which is also now running on 
Broadway, restores the balance of the characters after the long Age of 
Yul. The result is a dramatically crackling battle of wits ---between 
chest-thumping Eastern male and crafty Western female ---that keeps 
teasingly threatening to turn into a love story. 


Early stirrings of feminist spirit are deftly conjured up by Mills in 
the way she stands up to the King (Vee Talmadge), from the moment she 
lands in exotic Bangkok to teach the dozens of children of his many 
forced-to-grovel wives. Smiling ---or at least trying to ---all the way, 
struggling to maintain her Victorian-lady decorum in the face of the 
original male chauvinist pig, Mills' Anna at last puts her foot down and 
demands the house that the King originally promised but refuses to build 
for her. 


Talmadge is a refreshing departure from Brynner in his boyishness, in 
the way his strutting and bullying so obviously disguises a fragile ego 
and a gentle heart. Another improvement over road versions of "King" in 
recent years are the opulent designs. Giant carved elephants loom; 
sumptious curtains swoop down across the stage. Everything in the throne 
room looks as though it were dipped in liquid gold. 


The 1951 "King and I" begins the comfortable, plateau phase of Rodgers 
and Hammerstein. Because the show lacks the more spontaneous joy of 
their '40s hits ("Oklahoma!" "South Pacific"), it's especially important 
that its beautiful and familiar score enjoys musical precision and 
full-bodied voices. This production certainly gets that from Helen Yu as 
Lady Thiang. Her thrilling rendition of "Something Wonderful, " sung as 
a palace wall appears to float off into the sunset, has all the aural 
and visual splendor of opera. 


Mills, though, has an unpredictable, girlish voice, with strong and 
shaky notes in both high and low registers. In "Getting to Know You" she 
gets along with her byplay among the absolutely adorable kids. "Hello, 
Young Lovers," though, is a mess, with Mills obviously worrying so much 
about projection that the tender message of the piece is lost. 


Only an actress of Mills' skills, and irresistible persona, could cover 
these vocal problems so well. When she sneaks into the throne room to 
argue (delightfully) with an imaginary king, she's just about to lower 
herself onto his throne when ---whoooops, someone walks in, and she 
bounces back into a standing position with the grace of an accomplished 
clown. Clearly, in this ex-teen idol there still beats the heart of a 
scamp. 




Copyright 1997, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, All rights 
reserved.